Can only stay 2 nts. prior to cruise. Tahiti or Moorea?

[mlbcruiser]

Though we will be cruising from Papeete, I had thought of going over to stay on Moorea prior to our cruise. However, since time is so short, would it be worth the traveling over the Sea of the Moon by ferry for this? Anyone have an idea of the cost to do this? Or would we be better served time and money-wise by just staying on Tahiti? (Our ship does stay overnt. in Moorea at one point.) Any hotel ideas or ways to cut costs on the hotel? Any recommendations that won't break the bank? (Not finding good prices through the cruiseline. Have already seen better on regular sites.) We often use Hotwire, but that's not int'l. so ??? Thanks for any suggestions.

[mamapyjama]

The Sheraton pre-cruise from Princess was very reasonable, cost-wise - as it included a very generous breakfast buffet. We did Tahiti and it was lovely, and I think you can also do Moorea - we visited that Sheraton for a day and was much more scenic than Tahiti - much more peaceful. Either one would be really nice.

[kb9mu]

The ferry can't be very expensive. It's a 12-mile trip.

Try Linareva on Moorea for rustic accomodations. I did not stay there, so I can't comment except to say it looked like fun and the restaurant there is special.

[url="http://www.gaytravelnet.com/spacific/tahiti/ResidenceLinareva.html"]Linareva[/url]


[url="http://www.linareva.com"]Another link[/url]
KB9MU

[GottoCruise]

No Brainer! ---stay on Moorea - take the ferry over -very reasonable and easy.....Use Starwood points to stay at the Sheraton ---or a Starwood 50% off coupon available N/C ...Papeete is the LAST placd to stay overnight if you have a choice!

Until PACIFIC PRINCESS Islands of the Pacific Theater
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[wsw]

We stayed at the sheraton on Moorea in an overwater bungalow. Beautiful hotel, very romantic. We also flew over which was about $50/usd per person roundtrip. Very short flight and they give complimentary transfers to the hotels. Well worth it. View from the air was amazing.

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[GottoCruise]

You don't need to fly - the ferry ride is lovely ---and much, much less than the flight and the Sheraton complimentary transfer van will meet the ferry.... & not to mention you don't have to go thru the airport on the way back - the Ferry is quite near where the Tahitian docks. (If you didn't have much luggage to "roll" - you could walk it) (We also stayed in an OW at the Sheraton Moorea, I didn't recommend it because of the expense....not for those on a budget!!!

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[This message was edited by GottoCruise on 04-12-04 at 06:33 PM.]

[Johnny7]

The cost of the ferry varries with the type of ferry you choose. There is a VERY slow one that most of the locals use and if I remember correctly is around $3-4 usd. There are a few high speed ferries and I think they are in the $8-12 usd range.

As for where to stay on Moorea, my one and only choice is the Sofitel Ia Ora, if for nothing else but the wonderful snorkle beach they have. Also they have a fantastic view looking eastward back to Tahiti.

One draw back is they are not all that cenntrally located to resturants but almost all the resturants will come and pick you and drop you off for free, just remember to make reservations!

Moorea is a truly beautiful island. We are planning on staying there for 2 days after our cruise of May 17th.

Enjoy!

[starsjohn]

I have been to Moorea some 6 times and think you should take the ferry and stay there. The place my friends owned has been sold s0 please read the board for best recomendations of a place to stay. Overwater is best if you can afford it.

The big exception is if you want the nightclub scene of the city, they stick to Papeete.

John

[mlbcruiser]

Wow, this REALLY makes me want to stay on Moorea! However, I thought of what very well might be a hitch: we probably won't arrive in Papeete until sometime between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m., and I wonder about how difficult it would be to make it to our hotel in Moorea under those circumstances(?). With only a 2 nt. stay, we already would have only one full day/nt. on Moorea! Would LOVE to stay 3 but time off work might prevent that. Any ideas on good sites where I might find out about the ferry schedules??? Thanks to all of you for your kind and informative replies!

[Johnny7]

Hmmmm....if I remember correctly the ferries run from about dawn to a wee past dusk. You owe it to yourselves to TRY and stay on Moorea and as Starsjohn said, overwater is the best, if you can afford it. You could stay one night in Papeete at either the Sharaton or the Sofitel and then the next morning take the ferry over to Moorea. I can highly recommend Claudia at Pacificforless.com as she knows the area VERY well.

Good luck!

John

[mlbcruiser]

Is Pacificforless a travel agency and Claudia an agent there?
Also, I had actually been weighing whether it would be worth it to go over to Moorea just for one night and how that might affect hotel rates. (Can't afford an over water, but they look neat!) So will definitely keep it in mind. (I can hear my husband now, saying I'm making it too complicated!) Also there are two other couples going as well and if we do this, we may have to leave them to their own devices until embarkation. No biggie, I guess, but . . . Definitely some decisions to be made! Thanks again for your help, John.

[laurieb]

we are planning on staying 2 nights post cruise, and will be taking a ferry to Moorea. There are some very nice pensions there for reasonable rates. Check out some of the FP websites, tahititourisme and tahititraveler are just a couple. Since we are staying post cruise, I think we are going to try and fly in the day before and try one of the hotels near the downtown area.

Laurie
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[mlbcruiser]

Thanks, Laurie! I will check out those sites. Might be a good idea to stay someplace cheap if we decide to head over to Moorea in the a.m.

[Princess Di]

MLB:

Have you booked your cruise yet? If you decide to stay on Moorea (which is certainly a better accommodations value), you should book your inter-island flight as the same time as your International flight to connect. There will be no ferries after dark. They only ferry in the daytime, starting around 6 a.m. Frommers says that the best value on Moorea is Les Tipaniers. I am still deciding for my post-cruise 3 nights. Am also considering the Club Bali Hai because I like the location in Cooks Bay. Right across the street is Albert's Motel - about the cheapest small hotel on the island; however, I have e-mailed them numerous times and never get a response so I can't book with someone I cannot communicate with. You can e-mail me for more recommendations. I have a huge e-mail file on all the islands. I sail 4 Sept. Also, I have a great Questionnaire that I put together so that I say the same thing to all the fares, pensions, and hotels that I e-mail (if you would like it).
[email]donnaiworldtravel@earthlink.net[/email]

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[Commodore Suzy]

Moorea. If you are getting in late, then I might suggest you stay in Papeete the first night, ferry over in the am to Moorea and enjoy two days / one night there. Its worth it!

Suzy

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[Pincus]

Suzy, where did you stay?

and how were the accommodations?

Was breakfast included?

Many thanks...

[mlbcruiser]

Yes, Suzy, where would you stay just to sleep in Papeete for one night? Also, does anyone know if MOST of the well known resorts on Moorea offer pickup from the ferry or airport? What can we expect to pay for a cab from PPT into Papeete? Any input on any of this would be welcome.

I have my heart set on Moorea now. And at least one of the couples going is willing to go there, too. Found a great airfare but it was on Air New Zealand through a consolidator, and problem was it flies a day earlier than we wanted (maybe could've worked that one out) but it doesn't comes back on the date we'd need. Enjoyed the Pacificforless site and am getting hotel ideas from there. Thanks everyone!

My uncle died yesterday and have a funeral to attend out of town, so may not get to spend too much time on these boards but can't seem to be away from them too long! Too much Tahiti stuff to learn and do!

[heyjude27]

Donna, MLB
I liked the look of the Hibiscus. It's on the west side -- great sunsets. Nice beach. I read that recently it put in 12 air conditioned rooms. I am being a wimp about the air conditioning too! They emailed a response to me in hours. They also have a large swimming pool. Very reasonable. Seems quiet and yet has enough going on around it and close by. What do you think? Your list of questions includes what? Also, I received some outrageous quotes from tour operators but a very fair price quote on one property from: Ramona TAIE - Marama tours <ram.maramatrs@mail.pf>. I hope this helps. This is fun!
J

[mlbcruiser]

Thanks, Jude. I think I am missing something, and don't have time to stop and think what it is, but what is TAIE? Yes, this IS fun! Just wish I had more time to mess w/all of it now. I know there's time, but I like to get all my ducks in a row. Want to discuss some of this w/our companion travelers, but 2 of them are in Reno and the other 2 are about to head off on a cruise, so it might be a bit before we can narrow things down re: exact # of nights and if we'll fly on one date or another. Or some will, some won't? Whatever . . . .

[heyjude27]

mlb,
Apologies. I tried to cut and paste an email address and screwed up this simple task. Marama tours was mentioned favorably by another poster so I plucked the address from a long list of agencies I found and wrote to them. They were prompt in writing back and were the only one of three that did not quote me way over what I was finding on the web for hotel prices. The address is [email]ram.maramatrs@mail.pf[/email]. I also called a couple of hotels directly. One offered a 20 percent discount; one spouted off a long menu but it was all in French and my residual high school French did not hold up!

If you want to put ducks in a row then you are in good company with Donna and me, so far. I hope we can share good info. I have flights reserved but not ticketed and I'm scrambling like crazy trying to determine if a post-cruise stay will work for me -- before I ticket and find myself stuck somewhere in paradise! In the meantime, everything is falling apart around me -- but, hey, we're on our way to Tahiti. Wow!
J

[ssbeagle]

A good website for info on Tahiti is [url="http://www.tahiti-tourisme.com"]www.tahiti-tourisme.com[/url]

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[mlbcruiser]

HeyJude, The Air New Zealand quotes are good if you want to fly on a Sat., Sun. or - I think it is - Wed. You might want to look into how you can work your stay into those flight days. I just rec'd. an email from ATNui about some RT flts. on just a few dates in April, May and June that are only about $400 WITH taxes! I guess those flts. aren't full so they are discounting a few seats sort of last min.-ish. I know what you mean about trying to decide and waiting for air, etc. Certainly hope I don't book something and find a much lower fare afterwards, but it could happen. Just tonight I got a hotsheet w/lower cruisefares for the TP but they only ran into July. Definitely all inside of final pymt./no cancelation fee dates.

And re: the websites. I plan to check them out. Also, I have a list of others. Just haven't had a chance really. Seems I'm always going in 40 directions and have too many irons in the fire. Have relatives here now from Tampa who we will be driving the 4 hrs. to a funeral tomorrow. Wish I had about 3 free days to just play around on websites uninterupted! (Don't we all?) Certainly I'll be willing to share info. as it comes up! Thanks again.